VFA great Billy Swan relives 1990 Grand Final thriller
Billy Swan is often referred to as “Dane’s dad’’. Among diehard VFA supporters, it’s the other way. And a highlight of his sterling career was his role in one of the most dramatic VFA grand finals of all. Here, he tells us how his 50m kick delivered a premiership.
Victorian Football
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He was one of the VFA’s greatest players, but these days Billy Swan is often referred to as “Dane’s dad’’.
A few weeks ago a football supporter was discussing the classic 1990 VFA grand final between Williamstown and Springvale.
“Dane Swan’s old man kicked the winner,’’ he noted.
Among diehard VFA supporters, it’s the other way: Collingwood Brownlow Medal champion Dane is Billy’s boy.
Swan was a fabulous association footballer, at Port Melbourne and then, at the end of his career, Williamstown.
He played a competition-record 302 games, won the JJ Liston Trophy twice, figured in five premierships, and claimed two best and fairests at both clubs.
And he was a central figure in what Coburg great Phil Cleary calls the most dramatic VFA grand final of them all.
It’s 30 years since Swan’s drop punt — often described as a “mongrel’’ or “wobbly’’ — travelled 50m to give the Towners a two-point victory over Springvale at Princes Park.
The Vales had led by 34 points early in the final quarter but Williamstown, coached by the great Barry Round, came barrelling back.
Late in the quarter the long-kicking Ian Rickman thumped a goal from inside the centre square to cut Springy’s lead to four points, and soon after he poked a pass to Brett McTaggart.
Seeing Swan fractionally closer to goal, McTaggart passed the ball to his 34-year-old teammate.
Swan was a fine running player in the VFA, but there was no great distance to his kicking and now, with time ticking, he had to find 50m from his tired legs.
“What a kick. What a kick for Bill Swan,’’ Cleary, calling the game for the ABC, said as the right-footer put boot to ball.
“What a hit!’’ hollered his colleague Peter Gee as it went through.
“Well, who could have predicted this?’’ shot in expert comments man Sam Kekovich. “Have a look at the scenes!’’
Gee: “The kick of his life is right through the middle, and they’re two points in front, Williamstown! We’ve played 29 minutes. Williamstown back from the dead!’’
And after the final siren Gee declared: “What scenes as Williamstown, in one of the great grand finals played in the oldest football competition in Australia, and Barry Round takes them to the premiership cup after consecutive losses.’’
Swan said yesterday that although he wasn’t regarded as a long kick, he was confident he could make the distance.
He was more worried about the accuracy.
“I kicked it from right on the 50m line and a bit downhill,’’ he said.
“Because I used to play there and train there (Swan tried out at Carlton) I was confident of getting enough on it. I just didn’t know if it would be straight enough. It was a bit of a mongrel kick anyway. Still made it there. A bit of luck was involved, I suppose.’’
Three decades later, he still gets asked about it.
The irony is that Swan played in the grand final only because of the drawn AFL final between Collingwood and West Coast.
The VFA put its grand final back a week, giving Swan more time to recover from a shoulder injury he picked up in a semi-final. It forced him out of the preliminary final.
Swan well remembers a “couple of big goals by ‘Chops’ (Rickman) … one went through post-height too’’.
“He was a good kick — a bit better than me, mate,’’ he said.
Swan went to Williamstown in 1989 after 219 games at Port Melbourne. He had played in the Borough’s 1976, ’80, ’81 and ’82 premierships, won the Liston in 1982 and again in 1983, captained the club from 1986-88 and landed the 1982 and ’86 best and fairests.
But he’d become disillusioned at the Borough.
“It was a number of things,’’ he said. “I was captain of Port and I wasn’t really happy with what was going on. It didn’t really come down to money but it had a little bit to do with money. I wasn’t happy with what certain people were getting paid, as opposed to me.
“Because I never really played for money. It was more the principle of the thing. I was 32 then and I think they (the club) thought I would just give it away. I thought, ‘Stuff it, I’ll play somewhere else’. I was going to either Willy or Coburg. The reason I went to Willy was because of ‘Roundy’ and because it was close to work (at the Port Melbourne docks). I’ve been a shift worker nearly all my life so it fitted in with work.’’
By joining Willy he was running with Port’s fiercest rival.
“Not real good,’’ he said when asked how Port Melbourne people reacted to his transfer.
“My good mates at Port were OK about it. All the old ladies who used to sit on the fence weren’t happy about it. They used to let me know about it! But that was OK.’’
He was with the Seagulls for five years, playing in the premiership, going past 300 games and winning the 1989 and ‘91 best and fairests.
Swan said the move gave him a “new lease of life’’. He had been at Port Melbourne for a long time and in crossing to Willy he had to prove himself to a new coach and teammates.
He thought the world of Round, who at the age of 40 won the Norm Goss Medal as best-afield in the 1990 grand final.
“He was fantastic. Ripper bloke, couldn’t meet a nicer bloke. When I went there he was captain-coach, and he led on the field and we all got behind him,’’ Swan said.
“He was an imposing figure. It’s no coincidence that when he stopped playing we struggled a little bit. He was a freak, ‘Roundy’.’’
Dane went to the 1990 VFA grand final but his father doubts he would have watched it. “He would have been out the back getting into trouble,’’ Swan said with a laugh.
In 2003 he was chuffed when Dane played in Willy’s 2003 premiership as a Collingwood-lister.
It was the first major accolade of a career that brought him the 2011 Brownlow Medal, three Copeland Trophies, a premiership and five All Australian selections.
He was a superb AFL player.
And VFA stalwarts will proudly tell you he’s the son of 1990 grand final hero Billy Swan.
Williamstown’s 1990 premiership players: Jack Aziz, Chris Burton, Brett Gould, Andrew Howlett, Steve Johansen, Simon Lloyd, Brett McTaggart, Greg Minett, Troy Mitchell, Bruce Mourney, Wayne Muschialli, Marcus O’Connor, Ian Rickman, Barry Round (captain-coach), Tony Pastore, Rick Slevison, Grant Smith, Billy Swan.
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